Not even former Highlanders Reggie Bush or Alex Smith could do what Helix did Saturday at the Home Depot Center.

That is claim a state championship.

Led by the passing of Brandon Lewis, the rushing of Darrion Hancock and a solid defensive front, the Highlanders whipped Loomis Del Oro 35-24 to capture the Division II State Football Championship Bowl.

“I’m on cloud 9,” said Lewis, who threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns by completing 11 of 16 passes. “I don’t remember the plays right now. I feel that I’m floating on air.”

Dripping wet Helix coach Troy Starr — who received the traditional postgame drenching from his players — was simply one of the kids on the Highlanders’ sidelines.

“(The state title) can never be taken away,” Starr said. “I just love these guys. It feels surreal.”

Starr held up the state championship trophy to a cheering Helix crowd.

“I’m going to sleep with that trophy,” he said with a laugh.

Hancock took a physical beating from the Del Oro defense but managed to gash his way for 108 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries.

“Me personally, I’ve been playing football since I was 7 years old,” the 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior said. “This is the first year I’ve won a championship, and we won two — the section and the state. This is the best group of guys ever.”

Hancock shared the praise.

“You can’t do anything without the offensive line,” he said. “You can’t run the ball. You can’t pass the ball. All the glory goes to those guys.”

Added Helix running backs coach Maury Cole: “Hancock is such a beast. Nobody works harder. Nobody puts in the effort he does. Now we have our history and he’s a big part of it.”

Arguably the biggest play of the game was a 72-yard touchdown strike from Lewis to tight end Gary Thompson that gave the Highlanders a 14-10 lead in the second quarter that they wouldn’t lose.

What made this such an emotional swing is the play before was a 55-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Pruitt that was nullified by a holding penalty.

“We hit them with the clown post, and it got called back,” Starr said. “And then on the next play, Brandon just made a great read. That was a home run all the way.”

Starr praised Lewis for getting the ball to the “playmakers.” He completed 10 of his final 11 passes.

Two of Lewis’ scoring passes went to junior Kendal Keys.

Much of Lewis’ success can be attributed to his not suffering a sack.

“We played pretty well in the trenches against a really good team. It was a difficult task, but we managed,” said senior center Darrien Oliver. “This is definitely the best team we faced this year.”

Indeed. Del Oro (13-2), northeast of Sacramento, scored more points against Helix (13-1) than any other opponent.

“We worked really hard preparing for this moment,” Oliver said. “It is a nice payoff.”